Best coffee machines 2024: Our experts’ favourites tried and tested
Discover the best espresso, bean-to-cup, filter and capsule coffee machines we've tested in the Expert Reviews kitchen
Whether you’re a fan of cappuccino, macchiato, espresso, mocha, ristretto or just plain-old filter coffee, only the very best coffee machines will make you the coffee you want time after time. Thing is, choosing the right machine for you depends not only on your favourite type of coffee but also on how much time, effort and money you want to invest in the brewing process.
We’ve tested and reviewed over 60 coffee machines at Expert Reviews, including the best manual espresso, bean-to-cup, pod and capsule and filter coffee machines. If you’re not quite sure which machine will suit you best, then read on and we will give a very brief explanation of the differences between the basic types of coffee machine and detail how we approach the testing process for each and every model. For those in a hurry, our at-a-glance list lets you skip to the reviews you’re most interested in or quickly check prices at major retailers.
Scroll down a little further and you’ll find a longer list of the best coffee machines we’ve tested, at a wider range of prices, along with links to our in-depth reviews. Beyond these, we’ve got a full length buying guide to help you decide which coffee machine is best for you.
Best coffee machine: At a glance
| Best Nespresso compatible machine | L’or Barista Sublime (~£70) | Check price at Amazon |
| Best affordable manual espresso machine | De’Longhi Dedica Style (~£200) | Check price at Amazon |
| Best manual espresso for ease of use | Sage Barista Touch Impress (~£1,199) | Check price at Amazon |
| Best filter coffee machine | Melita Aroma Elegance Therm Deluxe (~130) | Check price at Amazon |
How we test coffee machines
All of the machines here have been extensively tested in our own homes, and we always compare models new and old against their closest rivals to ensure that our recommendations stand up to scrutiny. If we say one machine is better than another, it’s because we’ve tested them side-by-side.
For machines that use coffee beans or ground coffee, we source top-quality single-origin coffee beans from some of our favourite roasters such as Craft House Coffee, and we use a popular, affordable grinder – the Iberital MC2 (~£150) – to make reliable, repeatable comparisons between machines. For capsule machines, we select our favourite pods and capsules from the manufacturer’s own ranges.
We’re not professional baristas, but we do know how crucial it is to use great-quality coffee beans that are ground to perfection, dosed accurately with digital scales and brewed for a consistent amount of time. If a machine makes great coffee in our kitchen, you know it’s capable of doing the same in yours.
1. L’or Barista Sublime: Best Nespresso compatible machine
Price when reviewed: £110 | Check price at Amazon
Great for… two espressos at once, price and capsule compatibility
Not so great for… those wanting a more professional taste/experience
That’s right: the best-value Nespresso machine isn’t even made by Nespresso. The Barista Sublime is made by Philips, branded by L’or and it’s a Nespresso-compatible machine that also accepts L’or’s own standard and XXL capsules. We think it looks great and it regularly dips well below the £100 mark, all the while serving up cracking coffee.
It’s not compatible with Nespresso’s newer, larger Vertuo capsules, but that’s no great shakes – with both Nepresso’s standard capsule ranges you still have a huge amount of different blends and varieties to choose from. In testing, we found it both incredibly easy to use and easy to clean. There’s also a generous pod bin and we found it fit perfectly in our small office space. The clincher? L’OR’s own XXL capsules make it possible to serve up two 32ml espressos at the same time – or just pour yourself one super-tasty 270ml lungo. Brilliant.
Read our in-depth L’or Barista Sublime review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 157 x 402 x 276mm; Water capacity: 0.8l; Cup warmer: No; Milk frothing: No; Heat-up time: 7secs; Coffee sizes: Ristretto, Espresso, Lungo (up to 270ml); Maximum cup size: 120mm; Used capsule capacity: Up to 9 capsules
2. De’Longhi Magnifica Evo One Touch: Best value fully automatic bean-to-cup
Price when reviewed: £550 | Check price at Amazon
Great for… price, ease of use and great results
Not so great for… noise levels, hot milk
Fully automatic bean-to-cup machines tend to command a hefty premium over standard models that rely on manual milk frothing, but the Magnifica Evo One Touch finally bucks the trend. This classy little machine has a suggested retail price of around £529, which is still cheaper than many fully auto rivals, but the good news is that we’ve regularly seen it on sale for around £420. At full price, it’s a steal; at a discount, it’s a bona fide bargain.
It’s not just affordable, either. We found the delightfully simple controls made it much easier to use than previous models, and in testing, it poured tasty drinks with zero hassle. Simply top up the 250g hopper with the best beans you can find, fill the water tank, add milk to the carafe and the One Touch pours lattes, cappuccinos, latte macchiatos, espressos and long blacks with a single press of a button.
Read our in-depth De’Longhi Magnifica Evo One Touch review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 440 x 360 x 240mm; Water capacity: 1.8l; Cup warmer: Yes; Milk frothing: Yes (automatic); Adjustable grind: Yes; Adjustable strength: Yes
3. De’Longhi Dedica Style: Best affordable manual espresso machine
Price when reviewed: £186 | Check price at Amazon
Great for… Good value espresso
Not so great for… customisation and features
Looking for a basic espresso machine around the £200 mark? We think the De’Longhi Dedica Style is the (mostly) undisputed champion. It’s a simple machine with little in the way of frills, but the slimline design means that it squeezes into even the tightest kitchens and it makes a decent espresso to boot.
We found the Dedica is very simple to use, which is crucial for espresso beginners. You can bung in supermarket ground coffee or grind the coffee yourself, and the Dedica’s pressurised baskets mean that it’s pretty forgiving if the grind is too coarse or too fine, or when you haven’t got the amounts quite right.
Whatever you do, though, don’t be tempted to spend more on the Smeg ECF01 (read our full review) as recommended by other sites – it’s essentially a rebadged Dedica for twice the price.
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 149 x 303 x 330mm; Water capacity: 1.1l; Cup warmer: Yes; Milk frothing: Manual (steamer wand); Coffee type: Ground
4. Sage Barista Touch Impress: Best manual espresso machine for ease of use
Price when reviewed: £1,199 | Check price at Amazon
Great for… ease of use, customisation and great design
Not so great for… those on a budget
Manual espresso has a reputation for being fiddly, messy and difficult to master, but Sage’s Barista Touch Impress changes everything – this ingenious machine guides your hand every step of the way and in testing, we found it impressively easy to use.
Pop a bag of beans in the machine’s 340g hopper, and the bright touchscreen leads you through the process of making the perfect cup. It automatically grinds the right amount of coffee; the Impress Puck system perfectly tamps it down with the press of a lever, and the machine then monitors the brewing process to ensure the best results. The final touch is the automatic milk frothing, and this now provides adjustable frothing levels for dairy, almond and oat-based milks.
The results speak for themselves, and we enjoyed fantastic espresso and milk-based coffees delivered with a minimum of hassle. If you want the kind of coffee that bean-to-cup machines can only dream of producing, but don’t have the patience to master the fully manual approach, the Barista Touch Impress is a revelation.
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 360 x 340 x 415mm; Water capacity: 2l; Bean hopper capacity: 340g; Cup warmer: Yes; Milk frothing: Manual and automatic (steamer wand); Coffee type: Beans
Great for… small spaces and ease of use
Not so great for… small budgets
Sage’s latest entry-level manual espresso machine might cost more than most, but it does a good job of justifying the expense. We would argue it looks great; the design has had some genuine thought put into it; and we found its compact footprint fits easily into small kitchens.
It also helps that it makes a good espresso. You don’t get the automatic milk-texturing options that we loved on the Bambino Plus (read our full review), but the reward is a smaller, cuter machine that fits more easily into the most bijou of kitchens.
The Bambino is head and shoulders above cheaper machines and in testing, delivered consistent results from a tiny package. If you want a compact, capable espresso machine, it’s a very smart choice.
Read our in-depth Sage Bambino review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 200 x 310 x 320mm; Water capacity: 1.9l; Cup warmer: Yes; Milk frothing: Automatic/Manual (steam wand); Coffee type: Ground
6. Nespresso Vertuo Pop: Best budget Nespresso machine
Price when reviewed: £59 | Check price at John Lewis
Great for… long coffees, ease of use and small spaces
Not so great for… capsule choice, professional-level coffee
The Nespresso Vertuo pop is the latest addition to the Vertuo range and is supremely easy to use with its simple, single-button control scheme. It works with Nespresso’s larger Vertuo capsules to brew four coffee sizes – espresso (40ml), double espresso (80ml), lungo (120ml) and mug (230ml). Alongside its variety of pods, the Pop comes in a large range of eye-catching colours including spicy red, pacific blue, aqua mint and mango yellow to name a few.
This model is quite a bit smaller than its predecessors and as such, we noticed that some of the original assets have been tweaked. The water tank has been reduced to 600ml, while the capsule bin fits a maximum of eight used pods. Nespresso has also reduced the space underneath the brew head, meaning the tallest mug you’ll be able to fit below is 8cm, or 12cm if you remove the drip tray. In testing, we found that a few of our taller mugs simply wouldn’t fit under the brew head but most standard mugs will still fit without issue. Nonetheless, if space is your main concern and you’re happy to look past these minor grumbles, the Pop is a sleek and simple coffee machine providing excellent value for money.
Read our in-depth Nespresso Vertuo Pop review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 426 x 250 x 136mm; Weight: 3.5kg: Heat up time: 30secs; Coffee sizes: Espresso, double espresso, gran lungo, mug; Maximum cup size: 80mm, 120mm (without drip tray); Water capacity: 600ml; Used capsule capacity: 8
7. Gaggia Classic Pro: Best for espresso enthusiasts and hobbyists
Price when reviewed: £499 | Check price at Amazon
Great for… tinkerers, enthusiasts and perfectionists
Not so great for… those looking for a quick and easy espresso
The Gaggia Classic Pro is the undisputed champion in the sub-£500 category. It’s a plain, no-frills manual espresso machine that proved itself capable of serving up superb espresso time and time again in our repeat tests. There are no fancy extras, and no automation of any kind, but we would still argue that this is a machine that’s built to last – and it looks great, too.
The Classic Pro lacks the integrated burr grinder of some rival machines – and bear in mind that a basic grinder will cost at least £50 or more – but it makes vastly better coffee. We found it can take a little effort to get the very best out of the Classic, but it’s unbeatable for the money and capable of serving up the kind of coffee that rivals pricier machines.
Read our in-depth Gaggia Classic review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 230 x 240 x 380mm; Water capacity: 2.1l; Cup warmer: Yes; Milk frothing: Manual (steam wand); Coffee type: Ground
8. Melitta Aroma Elegance Therm Deluxe: Best filter coffee machine
Price when reviewed: £130 | Check price at Amazon
Great for… ease of use, hot coffee all day
Not so great for… customisation
If you want the best-quality filter coffee, we’d argue the Melitta Aroma Elegance Therm Deluxe is the machine for you. It’s extremely easy to use, has a removable water reservoir for easy filling and, most importantly, our tests show that it can produce excellent coffee with no hassle.
One big difference from many filter coffee rivals is that this machine dispenses coffee into a thermal jug. We found it doesn’t hold quite as much coffee as the glass carafes on cheaper rivals, but it has one huge advantage: it keeps your coffee hot without the need for a hotplate underneath. That means the coffee doesn’t end up tasting stewed and unpleasant after a while – so it’s great for people who like to keep coming back for coffee over the course of a long, lazy (or not so lazy) morning.
It’s also worth noting that due to the Melitta Look V timer receiving a recent significant price bump, you can now pick up the Aroma for the same price – if not cheaper – making it a better-value buy.
Read our Melitta Aroma Elegance Therm Deluxe review
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 265 x 270 x 335mm; Water capacity: 1.25l; Machine type: Filter; Stay warm: Yes (thermal flask); Warranty: 5yr RTB
9. Clever Dripper: Best manual pour-over filter coffee maker
Price when reviewed: £25 | Check price at Pact
Great for… easy pour over coffee
Not so great for… anything sophisticated
£25 might sound like rather a lot of money to spend on an unusually shaped bit of BPA-free plastic, but we think the Clever Dripper really does live up to its name. In our tests, we found it fairly easy to use, even for those who aren’t as familiar with pour overs. What’s more, its entry-level price makes it ideal for first-time users.
The Clever Dripper is an immersion brewer – pour the water in, and you can steep the coffee for as long as you want. Pop the Clever Dripper on top of a mug and you can make a single cup of coffee, or you can place it on top of a jug or carafe to make two coffees at once. It comes in both 300ml and 500ml versions, and the larger of the two allows you to brew two good-sized cups at a time.
Key specs – Dimensions (WDH): 127 x 152 x 152mm; Water capacity: 300/500ml; Machine type: Filter; Stay warm: No; Warranty: N/A
How to choose the best coffee machine for you
Should you buy a manual espresso machine?
Pros: Best-tasting coffee; flexibility | Cons: Fiddly; can be messy
If you want the flexibility to create anything from espresso to ristretto to cappuccino, a manual espresso machine similar to what you find in coffee shops is the best choice. The downside is that you’ll need to learn to manually grind and tamp the coffee, steam your own milk to perfection, clean the machine and repeat the process for every cup, but the added control makes it possible to get the absolute best from every variety of coffee.
Should you buy a bean-to-cup machine?
Pros: Easy to use; good coffee | Cons: Expensive; awkward to clean
If manual espresso sounds like too much work then a bean-to-cup machine is a great choice. Simply pop water and coffee beans in the machine, and you can get a shot of coffee at the press of a button – and without cleaning the machine between every single shot. Pricier machines include integrated milk frothers that dispense a cappuccino or white coffee at the press of a button. The results are never as good as manual machines though, and prices start at around £400.
Should you buy a coffee pod or capsule machine?
Pros: Quick, consistent results; mess-free | Cons: Inferior taste to manual espresso
This is the simplest option of all – and basic machines start around £50. Each pod or capsule contains the perfect amount of coffee, so you simply buy the type with the strength and flavour you like best. For no-hassle, no-mess coffee that tastes consistently good, they’re hard to beat. Some machines add built-in milk frothing so you can get a latte or cappuccino at the touch of a button. The results don’t taste as good as manual espresso or bean-to-cup machines, though, and pods can be pricey.
Should you buy a filter coffee machine?
Pros: Easy to use; makes big jugs of coffee | Cons: Only makes black coffee
If you just want plain and simple coffee to fill a mug, or want to be able to make enough coffee for several people at once, a filter coffee machine is a great choice. These generally require you to use ground coffee (although a few do have integrated grinders), but they’re a good bet for making simple, tasty black coffee.